BAM Nuttall – Man riding Access System

A large engineering firm won a bid to service and repair several underground airshafts that allow clean air to enter the train line in tunnels running through Balcombe and Sevenoaks.

RAMS were tasked with supplying safe, reliable and swift access equipment for up to two people into the air shafts, as well as a separate goods lifting winch assembly (1). This access equipment is to allow the site engineers to repair the mortar and cladding inside the shafts, which had deteriorated to such an extent that water ingress was beyond acceptable.

Our solution was to design a bespoke man riding cage (2), incorporating 3 separate ropes, diverted by 4 sheaves, with a modular headworks assembly that could be adjusted for each new air shaft. This system is not only modular, it is also fully serviceable, adaptable and fully certified.

The three rope design includes:

  • The main line to a Tractel Tirak X1030P man riding winch with built in auto reeler (3)
  • A semi-static line that passes from a backup Tirak X1030P winch, through a Blocstop secondary brake safety device on the cage, and to a dead weight at the bottom of the lift shaft (4) 
  • A fixed safety line from an anchor point on the headworks, through another Blocstop that is secured to the floor of the shaft (5)

The advantages of such a design are:

  • A secondary winch to retrieve the workers in case of primary winch failure
  • Two secondary brakes, allowing for added security in case of winch/rope/Blocstop failure
  • Three rope design naturally resists twisting or spinning of the cage

This design has been used in over 11 shafts, and is available for hire, POI.    









Established

Rope & Marine Services Ltd was established post WW2 by the founder Alan Edwards in 1948 with a business partner, he bought out his partner in 1957 to become sole owner. Alan Edwards served in the RAF in WW2, he trained in Canada and then served in North Africa and Europe flying Spitfires, he was shot down in October 1943 and crash landed when over Northern France, luckily the aircraft did not catch fire, he sustained severe injuries and spent some 3 months in a German run hospital and then remained a P.O.W. until the end of the war, a number of escape attempts failed, his P.O.W. camp was eventually overrun by the Russians and he made his own way back to Allied lines.


RAMS Past

Rope & Marine Services Ltd was first located at Free Trade Wharf, situated on the river Thames, the site has long since been redeveloped into luxury riverside apartments, adjacent to the eastern entrance to the Limehouse link tunnel. The company was originally formed to supply steel wire ropes and fibre ropes to the marine industry, the Thames being a hive of activity at that time with many large and small jetty operations, lighterage and dredging companies. The Port of London Authority London Docks & Tilbury Docks were major customers over the years and remained so until containerisation killed off the requirement for stevedoring and conventional cargo handling.

 

Construction & pipelaying sectors gradually replaced the reliance on the marine trades and demand from these sectors required the company to diversify and extend its range of products and services and supply associated lifting equipment and accessories, i.e. chains, shackles, slings, manual & powered hoists, repairs & testing, engineering and fabrication works were also undertaken in the field of lifting and handling equipment.

 

Relocation

The company relocated to its present site in Yorkshire road E14 in the late 1960’s, over the years further land was acquired allowing the company to expand the premises to the considerable island site it is today fronting, Yorkshire Road, Salmon Lane, Raby Street & Chaseley Street, land opposite the main works was also acquired and developed into a large secure car park compound. 

 

Rope & Marine Services have been suppliers to every major London based construction project down the years, the Thames Barrier, the Jubilee Line extension, the O2 Dome, Wembley, 2012 Olympics, Crossrail, London Gateway, to name but a few. The company nowadays has a very diverse range of customers through to train operators, utilities, construction & civil engineering, theatre & entertainment industries, aerospace, lifts & escalators industry, lighterage, waste management, abseil cleaning etc.


Progress

Reacting to demand over the years, we have built up a large fleet of equipment for the rental market, lifting & jacking equipment, associated equipment and bespoke equipment designed and manufactured in house, hire proves to be an ever increasing proportion of our business.

 

The company is still family owned, by the Edwards family, and celebrated its 70th year in 2018.